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Ant hills in my lawn.

bédébédé Posts: 3,095
in Problem solving
On my front lawn (ca 100m2) I have recently found about a dozen ant hills.



I have watched, but have seen no activity.  I usually get black ants under pots and terrace paving in the back but this is the forst time they have done this in the lawn.  I also get mining ants inthe front lawn, but have seen none yet this year.  Their mounds are quite different, with an opening.

My treatment is raking before mowing.  But I would like confirmation that they are ants.
 location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited May 2023
    Confirmed. 

    Edited to add: there are loads of similar images on the internet if you Google. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @bede I have never seen so many ant hills in lawns. You wouldn't want a picnic in my local park. I am assuming it is the weather that has something to do with it. 

    A friend told me yesrerday that she has black ants in her house so has used ant powder.

     It does seem very early in the season to see so many. Guess there will be lots of flying ones too. Treatments only send them elsewhere.

    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I have those. They're red ants here. Plenty of blacks elsewhere
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited May 2023
    My black ants haven't been shepheding the aphids up the usual camellia this year.  Perhaps they have moved to the front.  With so many noisy neighbours, I think the mining bees have gone elsewhere.

    As you know, I am wildlife friendly, I can live with black ants.  Definitely not with the red ants we got in coastal Lancashire.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Ants have done that all around the base of one of my climbing roses. They killed a big rhubarb plant. I have read that ants don't damage plants but that's not true, they do. They also climb the stone walls oof my house in France and make nests under the roof tiles. Bits of black stuff and dead ant then drop into the bath.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    I have lots on my back lawn too. I think the wet weather makes them come to the surface. I  agree rake before mowing. 
    AB Still learning

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I'm thinking of poking at mine with a long stick in the hopes that the sparrows will tuck in. I wonder if they'll make a difference.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    edited May 2023
    Last week we arrived home after 2 weeks away and, for a minute, I thought the moles had moved into the lawn again. Closer examination revealed a multitude of ant hills all over the lawn. About half a dozen of these ant hills were the size of small mole hills - presumably because they'd been left undisturbed for a couple of weeks

    They were knocked back and scattered before the first post-hols mowing and, although still there, are much less noticeable. I usually have them in the lawn, but considerably fewer, smaller and much later in the season than this year.
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I also have those little anthills in the grass. In mine they're yellow ants. Black ants usually appear in the borders or under the path/drive coming out through the cracks, but I haven't seen those yet this year.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    Yes Jenny - same here - the ants under pots and in paving cracks tend to be black and those in the lawn are often yellow.

    My neighbour is obsessed with keeping them out of her house and must spend a fortune on ant powder which is reapplied after each spell of rain. This year her brickwork looks like somebody has been throwing flour bombs at it. 

    When she decides to speak to me again (no idea why she's decided not to) I might tell her about the clear ant spray which is very effective and withstands a few downpours.
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
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